


Propaganda

by codefiant



Category: Voltron Force
Genre: Deception, Gen, Government Conspiracy, News Media, POV Outsider, POV Second Person, Politics, Propaganda, government coups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-07 21:53:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11632668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/codefiant/pseuds/codefiant
Summary: Under the influence of terrorists who were once heroes, Arus secedes from the Galactic Alliance, sparking a civil war. The fact that those terrorists also kidnapped two Garrison cadets seems almost minor.





	Propaganda

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon VF!Keith as Pakistani, and have given him a last name to fit.

Your son is reckless, impulsive, hard-headed... well, he's a lot of things. He's also doing well at the Galaxy Garrison. He complains about how boring the classes are, but that's nothing new. Your only concern is that he's got a few more discipline issues than before.

And then it happens. Arus secedes from the Galactic Alliance. Commander McClain and Sergeants Stoker and Garrett show their true colors and flee Earth.

And they take your son with them as a hostage.

Sky Marshall Wade visited you personally to convey his condolences. He promised that he would do everything in his power to get him back, him and the other cadet they kidnapped.

It's not that you doubt him. But Voltron is Voltron; who can stand against that? And you worry about more than the fact that your son is a hostage. He's young, and impressionable, and you know very well how obsessed he is with Voltron. To him, Voltron can do no wrong. To him, getting kidnapped by these particular traitors is probably a dream come true.

Your son worshiped Keith Khogyani. Every time you see his smug, brutal, terrorist face on the news, you want to put your fist through the screen and imagine it's really him.

Sky Marshall Wade declares martial law to prevent any other traitors from acting and sends forces to invade Arus. You know it's the right thing to do, but you're terrified for your son. You know that the Sky Marshall promised, but what is the life of one lone cadet when the peace of the galaxy is at stake?

* * *

It's worse than anyone had ever dreamed. But the footage released to the news agencies is undeniable.

Drule soldiers met the Galaxy Alliance's invasion of Arus.

In order to fight the Alliance, Arus has joined forces with one of its oldest enemies. And there is no word on your son, no information on whether he is alive or dead or even on Arus anymore. You know nothing. If the Alliance found anything out during the battle, they haven't told you.

You rip all of your son's posters of Voltron off his bedroom walls and burn them. He can be mad at you later if he wants; all you want is for there to be a later.

* * *

Information is sparse. The Alliance is keeping a lid on any intel they have. The last you saw on the nightly news, Keith Khogyani had been captured by Alliance forces, then escaped. You haven't been paying attention to what other people are saying, or at least you try not to. Whenever anyone says something that could possibly be construed as pro-Voltron you have to leave before you throw something at them, and that's happening more and more often.

Then it feels like a million things happen at once. Ebb secedes to join Arus, and the Alliance sets up a blockade. Voltron comes to break it. Somehow, the whole thing ends up hijacking all the TV stations. You watch in horror as Voltron wins again, but that doesn't compare to your horror as you realize that the crowd around you is cheering. Don't they know that they're terrorists? Don't they know that they have your son?

Voltron attacks Earth shortly after. The giant robot rampages, destroying the area around the Galactic Alliance capitol building. It is taken down eventually, and it's a miracle more lives weren't lost. But despite the giant robot losing, Voltron still wins. They capture Sky Marshall Wade and install their own puppet leader from Arus, their former representative Coran.

Then the cell phone footage gets out. And the eyewitness accounts. Arus releases a massive file full of evidence implicating Wade in numerous war crimes. You don't know if it's real or not. It's so convincing, but they took your son. Good guys don't take people's sons.

You try to reach out to the new government, to find out where he is, but your pleas fall through the cracks. Despite how public opinion has turned, despite how most are accepting the new government with open arms, coups are still hard work. You go to minor officials, the news agencies, but no one cares. Everyone is too caught up in the revolutionary hype to care about bad things done by the good guys. Instead it's all about how Keith Khogyani never gave up, never stopped fighting for what was right despite all odds. How he did whatever it took to bring down that horrible, corrupt Herbert Wade.

Whatever it took. Hah.

* * *

It's been months now since the coup. Things have calmed down. And finally, finally you have contact with your son.

It is, somehow, even worse than you'd feared. You can barely get a word in edgewise, him taking up all the air with how awesome the Voltron pilots are and how awesome it is to fly the lions and how awesome it was that he was _kidnapped_.

You tell him in no uncertain terms to come home. He refuses. You end up shouting at each other, until he hangs up with a frustrated scream. You scream at your own viewscreen, then dial back. Then dial back again. And again and again. He doesn't pick up. He never picks up. You try to fly to Arus yourself to drag him back to Earth kicking and screaming, but travel to Arus is still restricted. For security reasons, they say. Never mind that your son is a minor and he was taken from you and you want him back.

Your son is reckless, impulsive, and hard-headed, and you wish with all your heart that he wasn't.

* * *

Arus is laid to ruin by an army of robeasts. You do not try to find out what happened to your son. You lost him long ago.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr: codefiant.tumblr.com


End file.
